The Turtle Duck and His Princess
by BonneyQ
Summary: Bolin and Eska spent five years without seeing each other, but when they do, neither can hide the feelings that still linger between them. Follow them in this journey while they rediscover their love. [Boleska]


**AN: **I've been waiting for Book Two to end so I could write a Boleska fanfiction! I know we are a small community here, but here's my contribution to the fandom! I hope it's not too OOC and that you like it!

**English is not my first language**, so, please forgive any mistakes. If you point them, I can fix it. Thanks!

This fanfiction starts Five Year after the end of Book Two.

**#**

**The Turtle Duck and His Princess**

**#**

To take a stroll at the park without being stopped to give someone an autograph or having some crazy fangirls chasing him was something that rarely happen to Bolin after he became a mover star was almost impossible, but thankfully, the day he met her again, it was one of those impossible days.

She was a little different, but the earthbender recognized her almost immediately. The blue of her – and her guards' – robes gave it away, but also the bored expression on her face. Her hair was no longer in a medium size: it reached her waist and instead of loose, she wore a loose braid, but her bangs were still in place.

The way she dressed changed a little as well, she didn't use the oversized coat anymore, just wore a dress that reminded him of what Korra's mother wore five years before when they met, only tighter. Her body had changed the slightest in the breast and hip area, filling more. Or at least Boling thought they did: he could never tell with the clothes she wore before.

The woman changed, but she was Eska, the girl who gave him so mixed feelings when they were sixteen.

Bolin jogged towards her. "Eska! Hey, Eska! It's me!"

She looked in his direction, confused that someone was calling her name, but when she saw Bolin, the earthbender could swear that he saw her lips curl up; but, before he could get closer to her, one of the five guards that once surrounded her attacked him.

Bolin barely had time to use his earthbending power to create a wall so he could be protected.

"Micharo! Stop it." Eska said with the same husky voice Bolin remembered. Bolin undid the rock wall, but was ready to fight again if necessary. "You'll only embarrass yourself and our tribe."

The man gasped. "Miss Eska, this man…"

"I know him. Return to the embassy." She commanded and Bolin took a moment to notice that she was more gorgeous than before. Her eye make-up was still in the same design as before.

"But…" The man, Micharo, tried again, but Eska wasn't interested of listening.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Her voice was pure venom – even Bolin hissed – when he heard it. Some things never changed, right?

"No. of course not, Miss. We will return at once." Micharo gathered the other four men and leave as fast as they could.

"So… lovely bunch you have there." Bolin said after they were gone, leaving him and Eska alone. "Attacking me just because I came over to say hello?"

"Seven assassinations attempt do tend to make us be more careful with whom we let close to us." Eska shrugged.

"What?" The man asked, surprised. "Assassinations attempt?"

"It happens when your father unleashed evil itself and tried to take control of the world." The waterbender informed him with her bored tone. "People tend to want see punishment and when the person in responsible is dead, the next of kin are the scape goat."

"Are you alright?" Bolin asked, truly concerned; people could be so stupid sometimes.

"They only got close once; too many fire, earth and water benders, mercenaries, for just Desna and me. We barely made it." If it wasn't for the small ray of sentiment on her eyes, Bolin would've thought that she didn't care people wanted her dead, but he knew it better. "We did, though."

"And I am glad." He said truthfully. He never wanted Eska dead, when she was sixteen she trusted that her father was doing the right thing and helped, but when things got really tough, she turned to the right side. "Strange to see you without Desna, though."

"He couldn't leave the Tribe, as the new chief he has to stay and let other people handle the petty stuff." She said, walking again and Bolin jogged to go stay by her side.

"Oh, yeah. I heard he became chief." The man was excited: he knew so many important people; seven years before he was just a pro-bender trying to make a living and now? He was famous, had plenty of money, traveled the world helping save people and he could call the freakin' Avatar his bestie! "To tell the truth, I've always thought it would be you to become chief."

"He's older but I am bossier." She said with a dry tone.

"Can't argue with that." Bolin chuckled and the couple walked in silence until they reached the small lake located in the middle of the park. "So… what are you up to?"

"Mother is pressuring me to get married. Just Desna wasn't enough for her, so I volunteered to come here as an ambassador to get away for a while." Eska said without much happiness – just like always.

"_Desna _got married?" Bolin was surprised.

"Three months ago." The young woman threw a rock at the water. "Yura is her name."

"Let me try this again: _Desna_ got married to a _girl_?"

"Why are you surprised?"

"I had no idea girls were his thing." The earthbender said, still in shock to know about the nuptials. "I didn't even know Desna had a thing! He always seemed… _thingless_."

"It doesn't matter anymore: Mother chose Yura for him and Desna agreed to marry her." Eska said with venom in her voice.

"You don't… seem to like her." Bolin raised an eyebrow with the princess' nasty tone.

"She's stupid." Eska told the Earthbender. "He married her because of monetary reasons; she is pleasant to look at, I suppose, so any offspring they might have won't be ugly; but she is…"

"Stupid?" Bolin supplied, amused.

"Yes!" She said, rolling her eyes uncharacteristically and Bolin almost laughed, but didn't dare. "I do not understand how Desna married such stupid specimen of female. She is not smart, not even a bender to compensate the lack of brains, barely talks to anyone and just… stands there."

"Have you ever talked to her?" Bolin tried.

"I do not wish to lose my time with worthless people." Eska looked to his direction. "What could she possibly have to add in a conversation?"

"If you don't talk to her, you'll never know." The Earthbender shrugged. "Plus, you probably scare her, you know?" Eska narrowed her eyes and Bolin felt his stomach turn, yes, she was scared: that Yura was completely scared of her sister-in-law. "I mean… Your… beauty… yes! Your beauty scares her. And you are very strong, your waterbending is magnificent. Plus, it is obvious that… Desna loves you… most?" Bolin had a feeling that Eska didn't like her new sister-in-law because of jealousy, not because of the woman's stupidity.

"You are correct, Turtle Duck." Eska said after a moment. "She is intimidated by my many perks. I shall talk to her and inform that those fears are well-founded."

"That's not what I…" Bolin tried to say, but decided against it; he was not meddling more than that between a fight between Eska and her sister-in-law, Desna should be the one to handle it. "Never mind." Deciding to change the subject, the young man started talking again. "You called me Turtle Duck." His tone was obviously sly.

"Yes."

"You haven't called me that since we… You know." He raised his eyebrow suggestively and Eska just stared at him.

"I expressed myself clearly that last day we were together, Bolin. You will always be my feeble Turtle Duck."

"I am not so feeble anymore, you know?" He chuckled. "Helped defeat very nasty people alongside with Korra and Mako for the past five years. Eternal darkness and all that..."

"Eternal darkness was a nice prospect." The woman stared at the water once again.

"This is _very_ weird and anyone who could possibly hear us now would think we are evil and all, but I know what you mean." Bolin grabbed her hand and he saw Eska stiffen her body for a second before relaxing again. Taking it as a green light to continue, he continued to talk while his thumb caressed her skin. "We would've been great with Eternal Darkness things."

"Of course."

"It was nice: fighting by your side other than to run away and/or hide from you." The earthbender shrugged. "You returned home so fast that I didn't even have time to say a proper good bye that wasn't right after a battle. I had to offer Mako a hug after he broke up with Korra to get over _my_ _own_ break up!" Bolin said with feign hurt and that made the woman turn and stare at him, confused.

"You did?"

"Yeap." Bolin nodded. "We didn't even say good-bye to each other _properly_, which was rude."

"I was raised to never be rude." Bolin didn't even want to go _there_. "And what a proper good-bye should be like?"

Deciding to take advantage of the situation – he had been without a girlfriend for almost five months and Eska had been appearing on his mind once in a while for the past five years –, Bolin stepped closer.

"Do you promise not to waterbend my ass?" He asked, suddenly nervous.

"No." It was the woman's dry reply, and, since he was already expecting said answer, Bolin shrugged.

"Fair enough."

Bolin raised his left hand so he could grab the back of her neck and, leaned towards the dark skinned woman until their lips met in a tender kiss. His heart started to beat faster and he couldn't deny that he loved the thrill to kiss a dangerous girl, someone who could kick his ass if he got anything wrong.

So, the fact that Eska, the Ice Princess from the North, wrapped her arms around his neck, brought him closer and deepened the kiss was certainly a stroke to his ego: he was not just still alive, but also going further than the peck on the lips he planned.

The couple even forgot of how public the park was, but thankfully there were not too many people around. After a few minutes, they needed to breathe and when they did, Bolin had a stupid smile on his face.

"Does that fulfil 'proper good-bye' procedure?" Eska asked, sounding a little breathless, much to Bolin's amusement and pride of himself.

"Nope, not feeling the 'I'm leaving' vibe yet. Let's try this again." Bolin leaned to kiss her again and was happy to find her kissing him back. "Still don't want to leave." He said, once their second kiss was over, just before leaning in to repeat the act.

It was nice, having her around. Five years later both of them were so different from when they were sixteen, and yet, they still knew each other very well.

"Well… it's been five years." Bolin said when the fifth kiss ended and Eska ended up, somehow, leaning on a tree while the earthbender pressed his body on hers. His excuses were running low and the woman seemed to notice.

"Accumulative emotional damage?" She offered him and the man took it gladly.

"Sure, whatever you want to call." He kissed her again. "Do you want to have dinner with me? Reminisce about the old times?"

"Right now?" Eska raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, Spirits, no." Bolin kissed her quickly. "Later. Much later."

Yes, Bolin, the mover star, was making out with the Northern Water Tribe princess like there was no tomorrow in the middle of Republic's City central park.

Some people were lucky that way.

**#**

_Two Years Later (Northern Water Tribe)_

"I understand that your parents were from the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation?" Lunna, the mother of Eska and Desna and also the widower of the last Chief said and Bolin nodded in response.

For the past couple of years, Bolin and Eska had been meeting without anyone knowing – she dodged every man the counsel threw in her direction, but they were getting restless, so, the waterbender ended things with Bolin once more, even though they were not officially dating, telling that she needed to fulfil her duty and marry someone who could help the Northern Tribe.

Bolin was not having that crap again.

When they were young? Sure: they needed to go their own ways so they could grow up, but after two years of hooking up, of going out on secret dates and many happy mornings, Bolin could not let her go as easily as the first time.

What else to do other than get out, find the right blue rock and make her a betrothal necklace?

It took almost a week to arrive at the Northern Water Tribe, but he managed it. He had to ask the counsel for Eska's hand in marriage first, though.

"Yes. Mom was from Fire Nation and Dad from the Earth Kingdom." Bolin supplied, shrugging. "My brother is a Fire Bender."

"The brother who married Miss Asami Sato, the CEO of Future Industries, not even six months ago?" Lunna was a very beautiful woman, her hair was dark like every other tribeswoman, her eyes were in a lighter shade of blue, like her children's, and she wore a braid, like Eska. She also had very few age lines on her face and she looked a lot like the twins, which made her very beautiful, of course. And, unlikely them, Lunna was actually a very sweet woman.

"Yeap, that's him." The young man nodded happily. "He's a Detective in Republic City, you know?"

"I am aware." Lunna smirked. "I heard that Lin Beifong took a liking on him and that he might be the next Chief in a few years."

"My brother's very good in his job." Bolin was proud of Mako, of course. But he got the feeling that Lunna was not asking the questions just because. "Hm… Why are you asking all of this, Ma'am?"

"Do you know what our elders will ask, Bolin?" The man shook his head in confusion. "They will ask: 'what would you bring to Royalty?' You have no _real_ money, I'm sorry to say, and you don't even have a family name to support you."

To tell the truth he kind of hoped the elders from the Counsel could just… _choose him_. It didn't go through his mind to make his case in front of them. "Well…"

"On the other hand, my children lack…" Lunna said, trying to find the right word to describe her son and daughter. "…_tact_. They feel, but don't show and when they, somehow, find themselves trying to communicate, both of them tend to sound mechanical and cold." The older woman smiled. "But we both know that they can be quite passionate."

"Yes, Ma'am." Bolin nodded in agreement; he knew first handed that Eska loved him and he'd seen her protect him from nasty spirits – and she also fought him to protect her father's plan (even if she claimed that she didn't miss him, she did) – so, yes, Bolin knew Eska was passionate but people didn't see it.

"But as I was saying, you lack tact as well: you are not sophisticated, you are loud and your manners… atrocious."

"Jeez, thanks."

"But in a weird way, you fascinate people. You traveled with the Avatar, helping her create peace in the world. You are Varrick, Miss Asami Sato, Chief Lin Beifong, Chief Tonraq, Tenzin, United Forces General Iroh, Former Commander Bumi, and even the President's friend. You are a mover and pro-bender star and people love you." Lunna took a sip of her tea, looking at Bolin with her clean blue eyes roaming over him. "You, young man, might bring more to the table than the other suitors asking for my daughter's hand: you can give us _connections_."

"Really?"

"Yes." The older woman nodded. "Money is good, but friendship with other countries? _Much_ better." Lunna told him. "So, it might be easier for you to get approval of the Counsel if you say a couple of times how many important friends you have across the world. Desna married Yura for money, Eska can marry for connections."

After pondering the woman's words, Bolin asked: "Why are you helping me?"

"Like I said… You fascinate people." Lunna chuckled. "My daughter deserves to be happy, Bolin. She's not responsible for Unalaq's extremist behavior, and I believe you are the one who will make her happy."

"What if she rejects me again?" The earthbender frowned. "I mean… when we were younger…"

"Let me tell you something about Eska." Lunna interrupted him. "She is a very powerful bender, always were, my late husband made sure of it; but she was always alone with Desna because no one wanted to play with the twin creeps." Bolin cringed with the nickname. "Yes, kids can be cruel too." The woman stopped for a moment. "So, they put in their minds that they didn't need anyone other than themselves and that included me and Unalaq. Of course, they wanted to impress my late husband by getting stronger, and, even though he got insane by the end, our Tribe prospered a lot while he was in charge, but…"

"They didn't care much when he died." Bolin completed for her, recalling exactly how confused the twins were when Korra told them about Unalaq.

"Yes." Lunna smiled sadly. "It's not their fault to be that way; some people just don't show their emotions very well. But… when the troops returned from the south seven years ago… I saw that both of my children were different, especially Eska." The dark skinned woman chuckled. "I am a mother, so I noticed, while others didn't: she seemed to be opening to the world, not closing. When Desna told me about you… I liked you at that very same moment without even meeting you.

"She kept close to herself during five years but she behaved much better than before, and two years ago when she returned from Republic City? She was happier than I've ever seen. I was so glad to see my daughter happy and in love." Lunna sighed happily. "During these two years, she's changed, Bolin. Not much, because Eska will always be Eska, but enough so people notice that she is more than a spoiled girl and the 'ice princess', they saw that she does have feelings.

"But two weeks ago? I hated you for a moment." The woman said and Bolin frowned in confusion. "For a second, when I saw my daughter so sad, almost crying – and I believed that she did a lot of that while she was alone during the trip –, I hated you for hurting her. But then, I realized that I loved you for making her feel; and even if we want to, we can never only feel good, feeling bad is part of life and my daughter felt that.

"So, Bolin, the fact that you came all the way here to talk to me and to the counsel, it means more to me than you'll ever know: not only my girl loves you, but you love her back. You gave my daughter back to me seven years ago and I'll" Lunna took the younger man's hand. "thank you for that forever. Rest assured knowing that I'll do my best to make those old goats accept you."

"Thank you." Bolin said truthfully. He knew Eska liked him very much, just as much as he liked her, but hearing how different she was since they met made him feel even better than before, even more sure of what he was going to do.

He was about to continue his conversation with Lunna, but they got interrupted when the door of the tea room opened up and Eska, with the typical blue dress Northern women wore, had her now long straight hair loose and Bolin's heart skipped a bit; yes, he was sure.

"Bolin?" Eska asked, surprised to see her ex – by three times – sitting on her tea room and with her mother.

"Hey!" Bolin got up from the couch and walked towards the young woman.

"What is happening? I was told to find mother so I could meet another… suitor?" The waterbender stared pass Bolin, to her mother, who shrugged.

"Surprised?" Bolin asked, nervous, while Eska's eyes turned to look at him once more. "I can't ask you just yet because apparently I have to talk to some old people, but… there's a very nice necklace – this time _I_ made it, thank you very much – waiting for you. If you would have me, of course."

Eska looked genuinely surprised by his words, as if she never expected him to go to the North Pole to ask for her hand to the counsel and her brother and mother. That showed how little the almighty princess knew.

"Mr. Bolin?" A servant opened the door and called the earthbender, signalizing that the counsel was ready for him.

Bolin started to get nervous: this was something he couldn't bend his way out of it, and no one could help; it was all him.

"I gotta go convince them to let me marry their princess." He pointed to the door and then coughed. "Regular thing, you know? Must be Tuesday or something."

Before Bolin could leave, Eska grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him full on the lips and when they broke apart, she said: "You better get accepted, Turtle Duck, otherwise I'll _kill_ you."

"You say the most romantic things, my Koalaotter." Bolin kissed her nose affectively after smiling brightly. He waved to his he-hoped-to-be-his-mother-in-law and went after the servant, to talk to the counsel.

When Bolin was gone, Lunna snickered. "Koalaotter?"

"Refrain yourself of teasing me, Mother; it's childish."

**#**

_One Year Later_

The newly wedded couple took official residence at the North Pole, but with Bolin's acting career and Eska's diplomatic duty (Bolin would always wonder who the hell made her a diplomat: he loved his koalaotter, but she was a little too much on the psychotic side to be safe), they were often at Republic City or traveling across the Republic and, a few times, they went to the South Pole, where Chief Tonraq would receive them as if his niece didn't participate of a war a few years back.

Tonraq was a nice guy like that.

Against his best judgment, Bolin left Eska alone with her uncle to decide some trade business (boring), and he went to speak to Korra, who happened to be staying home for a while. It was nice to see her: the last time they met was almost six months before at the wedding.

The paparazzi had a field trip with the mover star marrying a princess and, somehow, one of them got in and took a picture of the exactly moment (two seconds) Eska looked at him like a girl, instead of a bored person, and Bolin was also looking at her tenderly. That photograph made the cover of magazines and at least they looked in love, not like Eska was forced to marry him – which, five years before was the opposite, ironically.

The bride was gorgeous, the groom was all smiles. The best men were Mako and Varrick, while the bridesmaids were Korra and Asami – Eska didn't have many friends, and she refused to ask Yura to join them, so Bolin didn't ask Desna to be one of the best men to avoid troubles.

"How's married life treating you?" Korra, now with twenty five years of life, was a very good leader. She still made mistakes, of course, but she always worked things out.

"Good, good. I don't even need to bow when she leaves the room anymore, like I did when we were sixteen, and she doesn't pick my clothes!" Bolin said, happily and Korra laughed. "Eska is learning that freezing me every time she gets upset is not nice and one day she can kill me for leaving me inside a chunk of ice for too long, and she still needs to know that just because I have fangirls, it doesn't mean that I am cheating and that she can't freeze _them_, or the paparazzi. Or the movers staff. Or Varrick. But hey… It happens, right?"

"Sure." The Avatar chuckled and put an arm around his shoulder in a friendly way. "And when are you giving me some cousins? Desna already…"

"Shhhhh!" Bolin put a hand over Korra's mouth and looked terrified over his shoulders as if looking for someone. "We never, _ever_ talk about this." He whispered. "Eska will let me know when she wants to, as she says: mate with the prospect of having progeny. I learned never to ask and you should too. Her mother asked once after they learned that Desna and Yura were expecting and… it wasn't a nice family dinner." His whisper was even lower. "Eska doesn't like Yura." The earthbender said as if it was a very big secret – except that everyone knew.

"Eska doesn't like _anyone_ except you." Korra told him with a pointed look.

"Not true. Strangely enough, she likes Yesna and Mia." Bolin said, referring to Desna's eight-months-old son and Mako's one-year-old daughter. "I mean, she just _stares_ at them, but I know my wife: if she hates it, she kills it." He shrugged. "Both are breathing and without injuries; and that's saying something: Mia threw up on her once, she was about four-months-old and I insisted on asking Asami to let Eska try to hold the baby and when she finally did..._ it_ happened;"

Korra gasped, worried about the child. "And Mia…"

"Breathing. Alive. Totally fine." Bolin waved her concern off. "Honestly, I thought Eska was going to be doing some infanticide; instead, she gave Mia to Asami and excused herself to clean up."

"I am surprised." The Avatar was wide-eyed. "I've seen many things in my life but this? Surprised me much more than half of the crap I've seen."

"Not more than I was." The earthbender admitted. "She even told Asami to bring Mia to the embassy so a healer could take a look at her." The Avatar was beyond surprised, by then.

"Eska, _my cousin Eska_, was nice to a baby who threw up on her?"

"Yes." The mover star agreed.

Korra took a moment to process the information and the smirked. "You really tamed the dragon."

"She's my sweet Koalaotter, not a dragon." Bolin smiled tenderly, and then made a weird face when he thought of how she was before. "Not… anymore, anyways."

When they were outside the City Hall and it was safe, Korra stopped the whispering. "So… do you think she'll ever want to have some kids of your own?"

"I hope so." Bolin shrugged. He would really to have a few kids of his own, he always wanted a big family. "But we just got married five months ago, there's time for the ten kids I plan on having. We are still travelling, making connections that could benefit the Tribe and trying to overcome the people's prejudice against Unalaq's name, and I am filming too, you know?" Bolin kicked some snow while walking alongside with Korra on the streets of the South Pole. "Plus, we are 24 and just married: I need time to spend with my wife."

The Avatar laughed and then teased: "You are about the only one who wants, really."

"You'd be surprised with the number of sick men who want a woman to walk over them, treat them badly and once in a while cause them pain." Bolin groaned, thinking about the other suitors of hers he had met: some only wanted her because of the status, and others, because she was cold and could be a good 'mistress'. If only they knew that Eska preferred to have her prey fighting all the way and then winning. Bolin chuckled, then. His wife was very interesting like that.

"Bolin… you _are_ that man." Korra raised an eyebrow.

"No, I'm not." The earthbender smiled widely. "She's not like that to me anymore. You don't see it, but she changed a lot since Unalaq's defeat. When we were younger, I am glad we broke up; she was still trying to understand feelings and I was desperate for having some." He stared at her pointedly, telling her without many words that once he fell in love with her because he was desperate to love someone and to be loved back. "Now… We fit. She learned how to feel and I learned how to channel my own feelings."

"I am glad for you, then." The Avatar smiled and hugged her friend.

"Thanks. I'll let you know when you become Auntie Korra." Bolin promised,

"Please, do." She laughed.

**#**

**AN:** I've been freaking out with these last few episodes of Legend of Korra and I needed to write something. This will have the second part, probably in a few days, while I'm still high with feels. I do hope Eska appears later on. And Bolin, always charming us. God, I love that man! Haha.

I hope you liked it. R&R? :3

11/19/13 ~ **BonneyQ**


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